MUSICAL EVENT 5 Novelties, Some by Conductors WIt. I ";'-.., <H ]\ . . .1 -.'-t . .. ---ì') I -=-., II -'--::r .'" \ \r.:. ',- " -.:d i - (- ,, t .I Y OU can't complain that symphony conductors have heen sticking en- tirely with the same old stuff this season. There have been so many pre- mières that the theme song for the maestri seems to be "My Time Is First Time." Serge Koussevitzky, for in- stance, brought to Carnegie Hall Arthur Lourié's second symphony, "Kórmtchaia," which turned out to be pleasant, skillfully colored music. I say "turned out to be," because the offi- cial analysis printed in the program book made. the sym- phony sound like a compli- cated exercise in tough listen- ing. Mr. Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony gave " K ' h . " b h . h ormtc ala super treatment, w IC treatment also was applied to symphonies by Haydn and Brahms. It was one of those full, satisfying evenings that you get when the Boston band and its con- ductor are at their tops. Dimitri Mitropoulos and the Philhar- monic-Symphony had a pair of "firsts" -Aaron Copland's "Statements for Orchestra" and the conductor's own ar- rangement of two excerpts from Pur- cell's "Dido and Æneas." Mr. Mitro- poulos's transcription was sound and workmanlike, but he didn't help it when he had it played with an overdose of the dolors. He did right, however, by Mr. C I d ' " s ". h op an s tatemen ts, SIX sort move- ments, each subtitled by a single word -"militant," "cryptic," "prophetic," and so on. The various essays made their points concisely and complètely, with the familiar Copland directness, clarity, and power, but they probably haven't the audience appeal of some of his other of- ferings. Most of this Philharmonic-Sympho- ny concert was devoted to an intense- ly sympathetic presentation of Mahler's fourth symphony. Many people are either categorically pro or anti Mahler symphonies, but as I don't belong to either party, I can report only that I found the fourth symphony generally attractive at too great length. The last movement was a long soprano solo, sung with charm and musicianship by Miss Mona Paulee, who was compelled by the odd ritual of concert practice to sit facing the audience for the first three movements. Eugene Ormandy, like Mr. Mitro- poulos, presented a homemade orches- tration and an American work not J, previously heard in Carnegie. Mr. Or- mandy's setting of the six-voice fugue from Bach's "Musical Offering" was well made and well played by the Phila- delphia Orchestra. Robert Russell Ben- nett's Eight Etudes for Orchestra were adroit, poetic, and witty, and the gath- ering demonstrated a possibly unexpect- ed appreciation of baseball finesse by making a special fuss -i.. over the Etude that re-created / , ; musically (no sound effects) a Carl Hubbell strike-out. Some- how, there were a few rousing clinkers in the next composition on the program- Tchaikov- sky's B-flat minor ("Tonight We Love," "Concerto for' Two," etc.) piano concerto. None of these was contributed by the soloist, Artur Rubinstein, who played in bang-up style without ever getting bangy. T OTHAR WALLERSTEIN began to ap- L pear as stage director of Metro- politan opera productions in the house programs last week-twice in one day, in fact, when Mr. Wallerstein was cred- ited with the staging of a matinée "T osca" and an evening "Lohengrin." This tidy "Tosca" was essentially the same production as the season's earlier showing of the opera, which it would seem Mr. Wallerstein had also directed, although anonymously. The perform- ance introduced a new Scarpia-Alex- ander Sved, who, after an uncertain first act, began to demonstrate his musi- cal and dramatic gifts in the second. " L h ." 11 d ff . o engrm was a we -pace a aIr, in which Miss Astrid Varnay was an unusually winning Elsa. Miss Varnay is one of the season's finds, all right, be- ing that rare item, a musical singer who is also a natural on the stage. Her high notes in the heavier going, however, sounded somewhat strained, and I hope that she won't be put on the spot by hav- ing to sing a large assignment of dra- matic soprano business. ARTUR SCHNABEL is playing Schu- Il. bert's piano music at the New Friends of Music concerts in Town Hall these Sunday afternoons, through February 1st. It's fine music-making, and rates as another of the many val- uable contrlbutions of the New Friends. If you're going to these concerts, don't forget that they start at 5 :30. -ROBERT A. SIMON 63 ::_ :::L, ..,' ;:: II , r , : , i- .:.. ;. . ... -^ ..::iJl ./..;;,:,: 1t; Ji' ,::<; : :lli',,;'" r,:,:.' ..... 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